The other day at a dance recital, the lady who had done the photography came up to me to chat while I was nursing the baby. I think she may have come over because she saw I was nursing and wanted me to have company and support... so sweet!
Anyway- we were chatting about nursing and I found out that she is also a nurse at a big local hospital and she works a lot with new moms. Eventually I told her one of my favorite nursing stories about a waitress who opened up to me about her nursing experience.
It was an amazing story because this poor woman has so many things against her- she was breaking up with the baby's dad right as the baby was born, she was evicted from her home... she had to go back to work right away... the list was long and sad- but she nursed her baby... for two weeks.. (sad right?) well no... the waitress went on to brag to me that those two weeks were the most wonderful rewarding two weeks of her life and that she will treasure them for the rest of her life and they were very important to her as a mother. I told the nurse that this woman really made an impression on me because she had such a positive attitude about something that I would have assumed was a story of defeat- and she was able to take all that tragedy and make a wonderful story to boast about! What an amazing character that woman had! ...so I told the nurse- whenever I hear a story that sounds like a story of defeat, I try to plant a seed of hope and victory to the person telling the story so that maybe they might be able to enjoy some of the good in the story the way that waitress did and then in the future they could tell a happy story rather than a sad one.
The nurse was impressed and relieved because she said that frequently she deals with nurses who have a "why bother" attitude about helping moms nurse who they know are not going to keep it up... the nurses feel defeated from the start- why bother if they are going to just start bottlefeeding as soon as they get home anyway. She said that being able to tell that story, about how even two weeks made such a big deal to that one woman (and her baby) that she hopes it will help the nurses focus and be happy at their job of helping those moms- so even if only for one day or two- it is something that those mothers will have.
Anyway- I feel so hapy that I had the luck to meet that waitress all those years ago- and that she told me her story... and then I also feel lucky that I had the chance to relay it to someone who really can make a difference with it!
Love Sarah
Anyway- we were chatting about nursing and I found out that she is also a nurse at a big local hospital and she works a lot with new moms. Eventually I told her one of my favorite nursing stories about a waitress who opened up to me about her nursing experience.
It was an amazing story because this poor woman has so many things against her- she was breaking up with the baby's dad right as the baby was born, she was evicted from her home... she had to go back to work right away... the list was long and sad- but she nursed her baby... for two weeks.. (sad right?) well no... the waitress went on to brag to me that those two weeks were the most wonderful rewarding two weeks of her life and that she will treasure them for the rest of her life and they were very important to her as a mother. I told the nurse that this woman really made an impression on me because she had such a positive attitude about something that I would have assumed was a story of defeat- and she was able to take all that tragedy and make a wonderful story to boast about! What an amazing character that woman had! ...so I told the nurse- whenever I hear a story that sounds like a story of defeat, I try to plant a seed of hope and victory to the person telling the story so that maybe they might be able to enjoy some of the good in the story the way that waitress did and then in the future they could tell a happy story rather than a sad one.
The nurse was impressed and relieved because she said that frequently she deals with nurses who have a "why bother" attitude about helping moms nurse who they know are not going to keep it up... the nurses feel defeated from the start- why bother if they are going to just start bottlefeeding as soon as they get home anyway. She said that being able to tell that story, about how even two weeks made such a big deal to that one woman (and her baby) that she hopes it will help the nurses focus and be happy at their job of helping those moms- so even if only for one day or two- it is something that those mothers will have.
Anyway- I feel so hapy that I had the luck to meet that waitress all those years ago- and that she told me her story... and then I also feel lucky that I had the chance to relay it to someone who really can make a difference with it!
Love Sarah
, that was lovely.
